In a fitting retirement for its oldest Boeing 747-400 aircraft, if all goes to plan Qantas flight QF7474 is due to land at 7:47 a.m. on Sunday at the Illawarra Regional Airport near Wollongong, New South Wales.

Four highly experienced Qantas pilots have already spent more than 25 hours in a flight simulator preparing for the tight landing, with Capt. Greg Matthews – the pilot in command on the day – having also scoped out the final approach path in a far smaller Piper Cherokee.

The 747-400 can normally fly for up to 16 hours – and in fact, this very aircraft once set a record for the world’s longest commercial flight for the longest ever commercial flight, non-stop from London to Sydney in 20 hours, 9 minutes and 5 seconds in August 1989. Its last flight was from Johannesburg to Sydney on January 14, after which the final crew signed their names on an internal wall.